I wrote this for my other blog, but it needs to be in this one as well. Since not everyone reads all my blogs, I have increased my chances that you have read this by 100% :)

At about 11:15 PM March 1,2006, I got a wake up call. It came in the form of a total power black out. Well not total, downtown had power, but one whole side of the city was in blackness. I ALWAYS keep a flashlight in my kitchen window. The trick is to walk in total darkness without killing yourself or knocking things over. Silly me forgot that I had a fully charged penlight close to the lightswitch in the computer-room.

I had a fully charged laptop I could write on and do some reading if I wanted. I had looked forward to a nice warm bed and a book, but that did not happen. I found a few other flashlights and took stock of what I had and what I needed to do. I checked the emergency jumpstarter. It had not been plugged in for some time, so it had almost no charge. I have a small solar panel in my window that keeps a charge on 2-12 volt batteries and I have an inverter to power anything that is under 600 watts. It was working fine. I looked around for my emergency windup radio/flashlight. I have two of them and I could not find either one. I think one is at my girlfriend's place in our camping equipment and the other is outside in my trailer. I had another small battery powered radio/flashlight that used to be attached to my bike. It's charged and working.
I have about 3 months worth of emergency food and enough water for up to a week. If this had been a "Bugout Scenario" I would not have had all my gear in one bag to grab. I have been working with my girlfriend to get her's ready since she would be on the frontlines in any disaster ( she works for public health). I got her a nice, compact windup radio as part of her birthday present. I like to get little odds and ends for her kit, and have been neglecting mine in the process. It is nice one of us will be fully prepared. I have gone through my bag and I know I need at least another pair of underwear and socks, maybe 2 more, they do not take up much room. I have no clothes in there and I have not updated all my ID or copies of my important papers. Other than that I am not in too bad a spot. With a little work over the next few days I can have most of my kit totally ready. I need to fill up my fanny pack as well. I need to choose just one extra book, something small but practical and it may have a few stories in it. Any suggestions? With that I will end this post.

Michael J. Kaer, President of Kaer Enterprises (.com),www.mjk-private-income.com, www.2bitpixel.com and www.mikesworms.com
Ps. I am just finding out just how much you can shove into those Altoids tins if you wrap them in rubber bands after!